Roses aren't always Red

Games

I wake up to a blaring alarm sounding out through the whole school. I sit up rubbing my eyes trying to wake myself up. I feel two people on either side of me grabbing my hands and pulling me off my feet. I start to pull away, thinking it is an intruder, until they talk.

"Ari it's just us. Cmon you need to stay close. This is a game. I want you in our team," Casey says. My eyes adjust to the light, or lack there of, and see Casey on one side of me and Rose on the other.

"Wha-what time is it?" I question sleepily, still adjusting to the chaotic environment. People everywhere are moving around and talking while the alarms continue to go on and on and on. Damn it they are annoying I think to myself.

"03:24, cmon. Let go, we can explain later," Rose says and we start walking down the halls into the crowds of girls moving quickly in the direction of the gym. My heart is pumping hard as I follow, half jogging, next to my two friends. We get to the doors to the gym and stop. Rose and Casey look at each other and nod. I look at them blankly, I'm sure confusion is written all over my face.

Casey stands in front of me leading the way while Rose guides me from behind. We walk into the doors leading outside and Casey is handed a black folder by a person dressed in all black. Their face is covered by the shadows and I can't make out who it is. The person by the door ushers us through calling out a number with our names.

"70. Carson, Darnes, Stroker!"

As it is called out it gets written down on a chalk board by the other two people in the area who are dressed exactly the same. They mumble a few things to each other. I can't completely decipher it, but all I know for sure is that one of them said 'good one'. We each get handed a backpack and are told to leave the general area.

"Alright. This is a drill of sorts. They pull them randomly. They do them to make everything a little more exciting and it tests the skill level of the students. The game changes every time,"Rose says explaining, seeing my still confused face.

"The game this time is to not get caught by the staff. You can't go inside the building but anywhere else is safe zone within the gates marking the school boundaries," Casey says reading the folder she was given.

"What's in the bags?" I ask curiously, unsure if I should trust it.

"Flashlight, blanket, rope, matches, and a emergency kit," Rose says looking in hers and I internally laugh at how trusting she is of the staff.

By now I have figured out the people in all black are the school staff and that hiding from them is going to be hard since there are a lot of members. I try to recall how many there are and I frown knowing it is definitely a lot. There are a few voices that sound far away.

"How do we get caught?" I ask quickly, trying to sort out all the details before picking a place to hide.

"They have paintball guns. When you get shot you're out. The team loses if two people get caught," Casey says. We hear the people off in the distance getting closer and Casey looks around nervously.

"Hold off on the explanation. We will have time for that later. We need to hide. Now," Rose says urgently.

"We're going around back to the roof of the staff building" I say suddenly and they look at me like I'm crazy.

"We can't go to the buildings Ari, remember?" Casey says looking around.

"It only says you can't go in them. Nothing says we can't go on them. It'll be perfect. We will always be on top of them, literally," I say smirking when I see their expressions light up. We agree and start moving around to the back of the school and scale the sides of the building to reach the fire escape. We get to the roof of the building and get down laying almost flat on our stomachs. When we are certain no one is around we sit up and start going through our things.

I inspect the bag they gave each of us and curse quietly. I dump everything out and inspect each item carefully.

"We need to get rid of the bags. They have trackers," I say urgently. They look at me and dump their stuff out too.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Casey asks, whispering.

"Well, we could hide them in trees and bushes. Move them every couple hours after inspecting the surrounding area for people. Maybe even find where others are hiding and leave them there so they find another group instead," I say after a moment of silence.

"Perfect, you are a fucking genius," Rose says looking at me in awe. I smile and take a look at our supplies.

"Alright. We need to ditch some of the stuff. Pile as many matches as you can I to one box. Keep a flashlight and the batteries from the others. We can hide the emergency kits. Leave them in the packs since we will move them every few hours. Same with ropes," Rose says thinking. We agree and follow the plan.

We soon have our packs hanging by the rope in a tree that seems like it could conceal a person hiding in it. We start to run back to the building, when we hear a pair of footsteps following us. We all freeze and the steps slow down. We stay as still as possible.

"Just go. We have nowhere better just freaking hide dumbass. In a few hours we can try for better camo but we don't have time. You know how many people they take out the first few hours idiot," a voice says quietly and the three of us look at each other in relief, knowing it's not staff. We slowly move away from the scene. When we are sure that no one is following us anymore we run and make it back to our roof unseen to wait it out.

As the sky brightens we hear lots of commotion off in the distance. Casey smiles at me silently congratulating me for the idea. I smile back shyly. She moves her hand and takes my hand in hers. I move a little closer to her and Rose clears her throat.

"I'm going to go scout out. I'll move the packs a bit. If I get into any trouble you two better win for me" She jokes sounding a little awkward. I think about how this whole scenario reminds me of the hunger games and I almost laugh out loud.

"Don't make this seem like the hunger games. You'll be fine, just don't take too long," Casey says voicing my thoughts and I have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing loudly. Rose smiles and the next second she is gone. We wait and listen quietly until we can't hear her footsteps anymore.

I roll over to look at Casey. She is looking at me and I blush a little, which is now noticeable in the early morning sky. The light blue with the sun poking out just over the horizon is beautiful. It makes me remember that sometimes, even when everything seems horrible, there's always reasons to keep going.

I smile when Casey wraps her arms around me. While I think about how beautiful she is, just like the sky, I flip around to look into her eyes. I press my forehead against hers and she leans in for a kiss. I tilt my head down tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as our lips connect. She wraps her arms around my back and I lean in closer.

We stay locked in the kiss, providing each of us with the warmth and love that the other feels. We eventually have to pull apart to breathe and we stare into each others eyes passionately. I have never felt this abundance of emotions directed towards someone. My heart is pounding from the pure happiness I feel while just being with her.

"Ari," she whispers, sounding like she just wanted to say my name. I smile at her.

"Casey," I reply. I close my eyes and lean against her. She holds me against her and I snuggle down getting more comfortable. Within minutes, with her stroking my hair gently as I lay against her, I fall asleep.